Shipping scam using invalid tracking information

[davijurask0]

I purchased three items from three different sellers for items that cost around $600 each.  I was provided with shipping tracking information from both USPS and FedEx.

I never received any of these items even though the tracking information shows they were delivered.  

It turns out all three packages had counterfeit shipping information.  Both USPS and FedEx show that those were valid tracking numbers but they all were sent by companies that have nothing to do with my purchases and had delivery addresses and name that were different from mine.  USPS has photos taken of the packages in their facility that show the tracking numbers I was provided with but with shipper and delivery information that are to people and addresses that are unknown to me.  USPS images show a package that is far too small to hold the item I purchased.  FedEx even has a signature on a their delivery form that is not mine or anyone I know.   USPS said this is a common scam.

My problem is EBAY will not investigate beyond the tracking information showing that the packages were delivered.   First they had me attempt to communicate with the sellers with no response from any of them.  Then Ebay opened claims but almost immediately closed the claims because "the seller provided tracking information that shows the item was delivered to your address", which is COMPLETLY IMPOSSIBLE.  

I do not know how to get anything but a computer generated "canned" response from Ebay.

I have purchased these same items before on EBay and had successfull purchases.  

[southfloridatackle]

If you paid by credit card you can submit a dispute with the credit card company. If you have proof the tracking is to a different address than your shipping address they should cancel out those charges no problem.

But you're telling me three different sellers did the same exact scam to you? That sounds very odd.

[simba6]

It's become a very common scam.  I hope you paid by credit card as you always should.  Contact the shipper, you need a letter saying that tracking number was not to your address. Evan better if they will say where it did go.  Keep calling as each time you get a different rep. Not all will help.   Then call your credit card company and explain.

Sounds like your not checking your sellers before buying.  Avoid any too good to be true deals and new sellers with low feedback that never before sold items in that price range.

[dana1205]

To anybody that goes to this I can personally vouch as I went through this, THIS is the way to go about it ..

I actually made the rookie mistake (I admit pure newbie status) of buying an item from a private website that ended up being a scam. It was only like 19.99 so I wasn't super worried about it. But I thought myself slick by doing it through PayPal. So I would have "more than one layer of protection" I figured if they screwed me - because it really was that cheap compared to most other places so I kind of expected it - that I could just file an appeal through PayPal. They pretty much did exactly what this person is saying eBay did.

They basically just said and kept repeating "it says delivered". The funny thing is it actually delivered to my town, but I live in a private residence - granted while it is a multi-family house it is only a typical three-floor house it's not a secured building or anything like that. And the package tracking number said that it was signed for in the "receiving department" and it gave the first initial and last name of the person, that tells me it was a business or a factory or something like that. That is essentially what helped me when my dispute. I say it was a funny thing because I live in a REALLY small town. That means that these scammers have a way for them to find tracking numbers from other people's items and they have a way to find out their destination. That sounds to me like it's an inside man  or otherwise the systems must not be that secure. Because how the hell are they finding out destinations, just by looking numbers up randomly?? I don't think so.

Anyways my whole point to this I'm sorry for rambling - it was FedEx and FedEx REFUSED TO GIVE ME THE ADDRESS THAT IT WAS SENT TO!! Due to security reasons, which I can kind of understand because some people are not as laid back as me and I could picture a lot of people going to the address and yelling at them to give them their package. Especially if it was a $600 item like OP says theirs where. So yeah good luck at getting the carrier to actually give you the address it was sent to. If anyone here is going to try to say that the carrier gave that information to them in this type of situation then they are either lying or the carrier didn't follow the rules. Because they definitely will not give you some random person's address for a package that you claim was yours, with no proof that it was yours. Because if you think about it we have no way to prove that the tracking number is ours just by calling them. Somebody could easily get a tracking number from their brother's table or a friend's house or something, etc.

PayPal kept denying it just like OP said their eBay did. So I went to the card company and they ended up approving it

[kh-vince]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.